What teachers do: facilitating the writing process with feedback from EssayCritic and collaborating peers

Abstract

The study provides an insight into how technology may affect teachers’ facilitating of the writing process which was examined and compared when Norwegian upper secondary school students wrote essays about English as a global language through multiple drafts with feedback received from the computer-based essay-critiquing system (EssayCritic) (target class) and from collaborating peers (comparison class). Quantitative and qualitative analyses of the teachers’ assistance drew on Galperin’s conceptualisation of learning. Findings reveal patterns in the teachers’ guidance in both conditions and outline the differences arising from the use of EssayCritic: by interacting with EssayCritic the teacher assisted the learners in completing the specific task, although little attention was paid to the development of their assessment for learning (AfL) skills. However, in the comparison class the teacher paid attention to the development of students’ AfL skills by emphasising the general approach to the analysis and the essential requirements of the essays. The study, therefore, raises questions about the need for practitioners’ awareness of whether the technology supports the development of, for example, AfL skills required in English writing classes.